2003 situation repeats: Appointment of FBiH executive heads

In Sarajevo, as many as four sessions of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH will most likely be held, specifically two sessions of the House of Representatives and two of the House of Peoples, writes the Patria news agency.

Scheduled for 11 a.m. is a session of the House of Representatives at which, among other things, the President and Vice Presidents of the Federation of BiH will be elected: Marinko Čavar, Melika Mahmutbegović and Milan Dunović.

For the election of the executive heads, a majority of votes in the House of Representatives and a majority of votes in the House of Peoples are required, as well as a majority of votes in each of the Bosniak, Croat and Serb caucuses.

According to unofficial information, Milan Dunović will not have a majority in the Serb Caucus, and therefore the proposals will be returned to the House of Representatives, which will confirm the appointments of the President and Vice Presidents of the Federation of BiH.

Then the House of Peoples will reconvene, where all three candidates will have a majority, but Dunović will again fail to secure enough votes from the Serb Caucus.

Regardless, it is sufficient that their appointments are confirmed by the House of Representatives, and the three of them will take the solemn oath at the fourth session.

If the House of Peoples twice gives a negative opinion on the proposed candidates, either because the candidates lack a simple majority or a majority in any of the caucuses, according to the FBiH Constitution they are elected if the House of Representatives gives a positive opinion.

Tomorrow's situation will be identical to that of 2003, when Niko Lozančić, Šahbaz Džihanović and Desnica Radivojević were elected as executive heads. At that time, Lozančić twice lacked the support of the House of Peoples, but was confirmed by the House of Representatives. 

The appointment of the executive heads will unblock the process of forming the FBiH Government. The SDA has already proposed Fadil Novalić as the mandate holder, and he needs to be confirmed by Čavar, Mahmutbegović and Dunović, after which the formation of the FBiH Government begins. As early as tomorrow, as announced, inter-party negotiations of the coalition partners SDA, HDZ BiH and DF on the distribution of ministerial portfolios will begin.